But that attempt failed by 310 votes to 278, slashing Labour's majority to 32.

'Losing rights'?

The vote came after Labour MP Neil Gerrard tabled an amendment to the bill that would make it possible for people to apply for a passport without having to submit their details for the ID cards database.

He said British people had had the right for hundreds of years to leave the country and return.

What is actually in this bill as it stands is a form of creeping compulsion - it is not something which is genuinely voluntary